Rethinking Faith

What does it mean to say that the Bible is inspired? Conservative scholars and pastors have struggled for years to prove that the Bible is without errors... our guest this week thinks this is a fool's errand. This week, Dr. Greg Boyd joins the conversation to help us rethink what it means to say the Bible is inspired. What if God inspired the Bible's contradictions to function as assets and not problems? Perhaps we should embrace the mistakes and contradictions in Scripture, because they show that God chose to use fallible humans to communicate timeless truth... enjoy! RESOURCES: Inspired Imperfection: How the Bible's Problems Enhance Its Divine Authority (book) Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence (book)The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Volumes 1 & 2 (book) ReKnew.org  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Dr. Eric Seibert joins the conversation to discuss divine violence. It's no secret that one can find some troubling images of God in the Old Testament. It is also no secret that the Old Testament has a troubling legacy to many. So... Did God really command the complete genocide of men, women, children and animals in the Old Testament?  For 2,000 years Bible Scholars and Theologians have wrestled with the violent images of God and the seeming sharp contrast between those images and the image of God we find in Jesus. Seibert joins the conversation and helps us to think through the various ways people have talked about the issue of divine violence. Enjoy!   RESOURCES:  Disturbing Divine Behavior: Troubling Old Testament Images of God (book)  The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament's Troubling Legacy (book)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does God really plan everything that happens? Bonnie Kristian returns to the podcast, this time to discuss God's providence and foreknowledge. Does God choose everything that happens? Does God choose who will be saved and who will be damned? Does God know the future? Is there even a future to be known? Kristian breaks down 4 different positions regarding these kinds of questions including Calvinism, Molinism, Arminianism and Open Theism. Enjoy   RESOURCES:  A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What it Means to Follow Jesus Today (Book) The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Book)  BonnieKristian.com    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea of hell has haunted many dreams and disturbed much sleep. Many wonder at the justice (or injustice) of it all, feeling confounded by a God who deems it necessary to send the majority of humanity to burn there forever. This week, Sharon Putt (Formerly Sharon Baker) joins the show and offers a safe space to contemplate tough issues and rethink traditional views of hell. Enjoy.    RESOURCES:  Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You've Been Taught about God's Wrath and Judgement (book)  Executing God: Rethinking Everything You've Been Taught about Salvation and the Cross (book)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Aimee Byrd joins the conversation calling us to rethink 'biblical' manhood and womanhood. Do men and women benefit equally from reading the Bible? Are they equally responsible for sharpening one another and passing down the faith to the next generation? Aimee contends that until both men and women grow in their understanding of their relationship to the Bible, there will continue to be tension between the sexes in the church. Church leaders must be engaged in thoughtful critique of the biblical manhood and womanhood movement, and the effects it is having on their congregations.  Enjoy!   RESOURCES: Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: How the Church Needs to Rediscover Her Purpose. (Book)  Aimee's Blog Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The religious Right has taught America to misread the Bible. Christians have misused Scripture to build power, provoke fear, and defend against enemies. But those who have been hurt by the attacks of Christian nationalism can help us rediscover God's vision for faith in public life. This week Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove joins the conversation to help us rethink our political values and understanding of scripture. Wilson-Hartgrove shows us how religious culture wars have misrepresented Christianity at the expense of the poor, and how listening to marginalized communities can help us hear God's call to love and justice in the world. Enjoy!   RESOURCES:  Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good (Book) Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom From Slaveholder Religion (Book) JonathanWilsonHartgrove.com (Website) PoorPeoplesCampaign.org (Website)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*Content Warning* (This episode contains conversations around heavy topics including sexual abuse and assault. If you have small children around, please be advised. Also, if you are a survivor and this episode brings up past memories please seek help. We stand with and for survivors of sexual abuse and assault.) The #MeToo movement has revealed sexual abuse and assault in every sphere of society... including the Church. Far too often, churches have been complicit in protecting abusers, reinforcing patriarchal power dynamics, and creating cultures of secrecy, shame, and silence. This week, Pastor and survivor Ruth Everhart joins us to shine some light on the prevalence of sexual abuse and misconduct within faith communities. Ruth offers hope to survivors as she declares that God is present with the violated and stands in solidarity with victims. God is at work in the midst of the #MeToo movement to call the church to repentance and deliver us from violence against the vulnerable.  This is a very important conversation, we hope that it shines light in the dark and gives voice to the voiceless. Please join us in working against the injustice of sexual abuse and misconduct.    RESOURCES: The #MeToo Reckoning: Facing the Church's Complicity in Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Ruined  RuthEverhart.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Josh and Marty were joined by WM. Curtis Holtzen (DTh, University of South Africa). Holtlzen joined the boys to discuss the ideas in his latest book, 'The God Who Trusts: A Relational Theology of Divine Faith, Hope, and Love."  The Bible affirms the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God. But might God also exhibit faith and trust?  Standing in tradition with theologians like John Sanders, who argued that God is one who risks, Holtzen contends that not only is God trustworthy and faithful, but God is also one who trusts and has faith. According to Holtzen, because God is a being of relational love and exists in relationship with humans, who can freely choose to follow God, then God is a God who trusts.  Perhaps this argument challenges your notion of who God is, however... Holtzen argues that understanding the relationship between divine trust and human faith can give us a fuller, truer and more beautiful picture of who God is, and who we are. Enjoy!   RESOURCES:  The God Who Trusts: A Relational Theology of Divine Faith, Hope and Love (Book) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The book of Revelation is perhaps the most misunderstood and abused book in the Bible. Is Revelation a prophetic warning about the end of the world? Is Revelation teaching us about Armageddon? Is the rapture really a thing? What the heck is eschatology? Why does any of this matter? This week, Josh and Marty were joined by Revelation scholar, Dr. Rob Dalrymple. Rob shines some light onto the book of Revelation. He breaks down the overall narrative and message of Revelation (hint: it's about Jesus) and he talks about eschatology and why it matters. If you have ever wondered what the heck is going on in the book of Revelation, this episode is for you! If you have suffered from anxiety and/or depression because of bad end-times theology, then this episode is for you. Enjoy!  RESOURCES:  A Peacemaker's Pilgrimage With Rob Dalrymple (trip to Isreal) Follow the Lamb: A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the book of Revelation(book)  Understanding the New Testament and the End Times (book) Dr. Rob Dalrymple Author Page Determine Truth Podcast  Rob's Website Determine Truth Bile Classes twitter: @RobDalrymple Facebook: Rob Dalrymple@DetermineTruth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saying no to God... is that even a thing? Matthew J. Korpman sure thinks so! He joins Josh this week for a conversation about his latest book 'Saying No To God: A Radical Approach to Reading the Bible Faithfully'. Korpman proposes that the Bible itself reveals that just because 'God says it,' does not, in fact, mean 'that settles it.' Instead, a closer reading of scripture shows that God does not want us to just blindly obey him, but rather, invites us to 'lock hands' with him.  Could it be that readers are not asked to just accept what God says, but on the contrary: to say no to it? Not because they merely want to, but because the God of the Bible actually requires it.    Resources: Saying No To God: A Radical Approach to Reading the Bible Faithfully (book)   Big thanks to Dan Koch for our new intro/outro music! For inquiries, check him out at: DanKoch.net   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices